Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday criticised the Congress Party for its unwarranted criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the National Herald case and said it has been a disease of few people in that party to flag the PMO's involvement in every matter.
"It has been a few people's habit and disease to include the name of the PMO in every matter. I think they cannot digest any fact or issue unless they take the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There's no problem if they chant 'PMO Chalisa' once a day," Naqvi told ANI.
"This is a legal procedure and we see it as a legal action. The court will decide if someone is guilty or innocent in the matter. We believe there should be no politics in it. We are not in support of any kind of politics in it," he added.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the Patiala House court in connection with the National Herald case.
According to party sources, the Congress is open to avail all legal remedies and options. Sonia and Rahul were summoned by the Court after a criminal complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds by them in acquiring ownership of now-defunct daily National Herald.
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The National Herald newspaper was closely associated with India's freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress till 2008. In January 2008, discussions about its closure began. On 1 April 2008, the paper's editorial announced that it was temporarily suspending operations. Before its closure, the paper was being run by Associated Journals Limited (AJL).
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy filed the case in a local court in 2012. The trial court then issued summons to the two leaders among others in June 2014, but they approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay. On Monday this week, the high court refused to stay the summons, and asked all of the accused to appear for a hearing on December 19.
The accused face allegations that they illegally acquired property worth Rs. 5,000 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.